Are your cats declawed?

[BethySue]

In Canada, Nutritional knowledge IS part of ciriculum in vet school, and generally vet recommended foods are higher quality than grocery store brand....but I can imagine its different in the US. I think Canada has stricter laws (while still pretty slack) re: quality of pet grade food.

BUT your right, vets are taught many painful, un necessary procedures, mainly meant to bring profit to the industry. GOOD vets use morals and values and compassion and logic when recommending treatments to owners. Money greedy, heartless, selfish, bottom-line vets do declawings and other senseless procedures. Face it, Vet clinics are a business, and have employees to pay, etc. Sometimes, the animals come second, and the money comes first. I only associate with the vets who put patients first.

Most vets here do recommend better foods than grocery store foods, but it's still nothing I would feed. It seems to me that vets tend to recommend Science Diet, Purina, or Pedigree. I forget which my vet recommends as it hasn't come up since our oldest dog was a puppy (nearly seven years ago). The first ingredient listed on most of the dog foods from those brands is corn and have lots of other cheap fillers. The cat food, too, has corn and a lot of stuff I would never consider feeding my cat.

I wish there were more good vets that put the patients first. It is very difficult to find one. Our vet is good at putting the animals first, and we are blessed in that aspect.

Hey, if you want to get technical about it, clipping is really only for the convenience of the human as well...it has been shown over and over and over again that clipping a bird does not make them any safer than leaving them fully flighted in most instances. In fact, it's probably more dangerous to clip than it is to leave them fully flighted.

Having said that, I do agree that declawing cannot be compared to clipping a bird...clipping a bird does not hurt a bird physically and the feathers do grow back. Someone did mention that declawing was like removing the wings on a bird...I don't agree with that either.

I did mention that clipping is mostly for the owner's convenience. In my house, I can see safety and positive aspects for both clipping and not clipping. I can see not clipping so the birds can fly from the cats should they ever need to, but I can also see clipping because my family members tend to open doors that go outside a lot. The first floor of our house has a fairly open floorplan. The birds are most frequently in the living room and the front door is right there. I go back and forth in my mind about which is better for us. I think it really is one of those things that you have to look at the situation and can't make a sweeping generalization that will fit everybody's situation.

I am not sure what schools you are talking about but in Minnesota they learn all about animal nutrition in Veterinary College. My niece is just finishing up her semester of classes on animal nutrition and has been telling us all about it.

For vet schools in the states, they have one single mandetory nutriton class that lasts one semester and it is indeed taught with the help of the larger food distributors.

Then this has changed since the last time I talked to somebody, or else they were wrong. Last I heard it wasn't mandatory. However, one semester long class set up by a large food company is almost worse than none. I hate to say it, but I am pretty sure I know more about dog and cat nutrition than my dog and cat vet does. She even admitted to me that most vets are lacking in that area.

 

[Bokkapooh]

I see vets like I see doctors. They are all different and most aren't nutritionists.

 

[BethySue]

I see vets like I see doctors. They are all different and most aren't nutritionists.

I see them the same way. I know they aren't nutritionists, but I do expect them to know the basics, or to be able to recommend somebody to me who does know.

 

[Angelicarboreals]

My opinion: declawing cats is extremely cruel, you're chopping off their knuckles. I would get Alternatives to Declawing, Nail Caps for Cats nail caps.

EDIT: I also believe keeping cats indoors is extremely cruel. I would never do that to a cat.

Keeping cats indoors is actually an environmental issue. More birds are killed in the United States by pet cats than by any other means....and at this point, there are not that many migratory birds that do not need all the help they can get. Also, outdoor cats have an average lifespan of about two years. Dogs and cars are the main reasons for this.

 

[Nikki]

Keeping cats indoors is actually an environmental issue. More birds are killed in the United States by pet cats than by any other means....and at this point, there are not that many migratory birds that do not need all the help they can get. Also, outdoor cats have an average lifespan of about two years. Dogs and cars are the main reasons for this.

This probably why I don't get many birds in my yard! A neighbors cat patrols the fence and only comes out to irritate my little dogs by setting on the fence looking down at them while they bark and bark... Once I put the dogs inside the cat jumps down and pees on the fence.

 

[Archiesmom]

I should say firstly that I didnt take the time to read all of the above posts, so if Im repeating things that have already been said, Im apologetic
I work at a Veterinary Specialist & Emergency Center (www.westernvet.ca).
I can tell you first hand that this procedure is INCREDIBLY painful, at any age, for your cat. I have witnessed the procedure being done, and its basically the equivelent of having the tips of your fingers cut off. While they are under anastesia during the procedure, and even given pain managements meds to go home with, it is incredibly uncomfortable, and considered by most vets to be incredibly inhumane and cruel. Most vets in my city will not even do this procedure any more. As a professional, I would recommend that NO ONE consider electing this procedure for your cats for your convenience alone. I can appreciate that people may feel safter with the cats around the birds after having this done, but realistically, your cat can still kill your bird in a heart beat, claws or not. He can crush, mangle, bite and chew your birds anyhow, and will quickly learn how to do so after the nails are removed. Its not beneficial enough for me to see any positives. The only reason our specialist even did the procedure was because a 40 pound cat had accidently got his claws caught in the back of the computer desk chair, and hung from the chair like that for 8 hours, causing severe damage to his paws. Had to be done to correct the damage that resulted.

Either way, I am seriously against this procedure.....a WONDER ALTERNATIVE is Nail Caps. We have them for our dogs.

They can be put on at a groomers, or by yourself, and last up to 4 months and are fairly affordable. They protect your furniture and floors. We like them. You just have to make sure your cats nails are super short before you put them on.

WOW those are so cute! Definitely getting those for Fia. Should help keep my wood floors intact and we can have pretty matching painted nails!

 

[PeaceLoveDreamer]

I have one rescue cat that came to me front declawed. I can say, it is nice to have him with no claws there, especially during baths and nail clipping, but I would never do it to a cat myself.

 

[KimKimWilliamson]

Most vets here do recommend better foods than grocery store foods, but it's still nothing I would feed. It seems to me that vets tend to recommend Science Diet, Purina, or Pedigree. I forget which my vet recommends as it hasn't come up since our oldest dog was a puppy (nearly seven years ago). The first ingredient listed on most of the dog foods from those brands is corn and have lots of other cheap fillers. The cat food, too, has corn and a lot of stuff I would never consider feeding my cat.

I wish there were more good vets that put the patients first. It is very difficult to find one.

WHAT??!!! The vets I work with would NEVER in a hundred years recommend those brands!!! Yuck! Those are •••• brands, so I can see why would feel the way you do....here the big pushers with vets are Prescription Hill, Medi-cal (Royal Canine) and several Holistic Brands. Very high quality foods. The reality though is that some dogs just dont do well on high protien foods, so a vet may be forced to advice you to switch to a low grade food for that reason.....I urge people to consider that doctors have a much more in depth knowledge of the way an animal process' thier food and that is a huge factor in decision making in that regard.

Our Vets are great, but our clinic is a Specialist Center, and boasts the best of the best, and recieves everything except Emergencies by refferal ONLY so maybe thats why I see such a high level of work from my co-workers.



RE: The caps not working great, and falling off.....I put my dogs caps on myself with super glue. I wonder of cat people are just slipping them on? cause they would come off easily of there was nothing hlding them on, but the Super Glue does the trick. I have to use nail cutters to get the old ones off, and get the new ones on, and I have NEVER had one fall off. This is a safe practice, and actually recommended for active pets using them by the manufacturer.

 

[KimKimWilliamson]

As a side note, Im thinking based in people responses here, its easy to say who would have thier dogs ears cropped, or tails docked, etc etc. They are all in the same category imo.

 

[BethySue]

WHAT??!!! The vets I work with would NEVER in a hundred years recommend those brands!!! Yuck! Those are •••• brands, so I can see why would feel the way you do....here the big pushers with vets are Prescription Hill, Medi-cal (Royal Canine) and several Holistic Brands. Very high quality foods. The reality though is that some dogs just dont do well on high protien foods, so a vet may be forced to advice you to switch to a low grade food for that reason.....I urge people to consider that doctors have a much more in depth knowledge of the way an animal process' thier food and that is a huge factor in decision making in that regard.

Our Vets are great, but our clinic is a Specialist Center, and boasts the best of the best, and recieves everything except Emergencies by refferal ONLY so maybe thats why I see such a high level of work from my co-workers.

I wouldn't feed the Hill Prescription diets unless I absolutely had to. They are better than regular Hill's, but last I checked, they, too, had corn and wheat. We have one dog with lots of food allergies and that has taught me a lot about pet nutrition (still learning A LOT about bird nutrition). I don't think corn has any place in dog or cat food. And, of course, if your vet advises you to feed your pet a low-protein diet, definitely do. However, if I were in that situation, I'd probably make my own pet food before buying a low quality pet food simply because of the quality of the ingredients.

As a side note, Im thinking based in people responses here, its easy to say who would have thier dogs ears cropped, or tails docked, etc etc. They are all in the same category imo.

I think tail docking is different, and this was already mentioned. There are certain breeds that are very prone to tail breaking or other tail problems. In my opinion, it is much better, safer, and more humane to dock a tail when the dog is a puppy than risk the problems that could come with not docking it. I only think that for the breeds that it is a problem for though. As for cropping ears, I won't do it. I think most of the breeds that normally get cropped ears look so much better with their natural shaped ears. I do think I read someplace about there possibly being a health benefit to cropping ears, but I can't remember what it was.

 

[Birdiemarie]

Thread closed as per OP's request.